I have had the same issues, and here's something else I found out about how to combat it.
The "rhythm" mechanic under the hood of the game is very powerful. The CPU will still make runs, but there's a lot you need to do as a player to minimize CPU rhythm and maximize your own. When rhythm is against you, the CPU will play impossible defense and offense, stealing your passes, you miss all your shots, the CPU makes all of its shots mo matter what you do.
Here's what I am learning to do and it seems to work:
1. Learn how to see what the CPU is doing on offense and defense by learning the different POE's and what they look like on the court. The announcer commentary and Doris Goodwin give you a lot of hints. Make sure you are adjusting your own POE's A LOT to combat the CPU. There's a lot of rock-paper-scissors in this, and you can't let yourself get on the wrong side of it. If you do, the CPU will generate rhythm and you could lose control of the game.
2. Call time out as soon as you can feel/see the CPU generating positive rhythm. Nip it in the bud. Try not to wait long.
3. Change your POE's during fouls shots or any other breaks frequently, even if what you have been doing is working. That's because the CPU AI adjusts to you when you are having success, and by making changes you can stay a step ahead of the CPU and generate your own rhythm and momentum. Make the rhythm engine under the hood work for you, not against you.
4. Work hard to avoid bad passes and turnovers. When your defensive players begin to show blue icons, that can begin a slide for you. Play off ball defense if you have to, but if you do what the other guys said about being careful not to be burned off the dribble, that helps.
5. If you start to
get any of your offensive players warm (yellow icon) or hot (red icon), feed them! They can start to play lights out and that can snow ball for you in a very good way. This can happen for your defensive guys too, like if you have a pick pocket or blocking specialist.
6. If you can feel your rhythm slacking,
make extra passes on offense before taking a shot. When your players touch the ball more frequently, they can generate more team rhythm. I used to get more frantic on offense when the CPU starts to cheat the hell out of me with rhythm and play more shoot at will type offense. Turns out that reduces player touches and can make things worse.
If you do all those things, the game will begin to play a lot differently for you. You can find that
the rhythm dynamic will start to work for you, and things will start falling for you the way the CPU has been looking like it's totally cheesing against you. When the rhythm dynamic maxes out for one team, it is total cheese. People makes shots, defensive plays, steal like crazy, and the other team can't do anything right.
The big difference here from CG is how the CPU AI adjusts to your play style using the POE system and how that affects the game rhythm logic. Game rhythm invisibly but dramatically alters actual in game ratings and sliders. It's the same effect as if you were to customize the sliders to gimp one team and cheese the other. But it won't be visible in the actual sliders menu.
Try it! And good luck! Let me know how it goes.